Good news on the breastfeeding front in Pennsylvania. State senator Connie Williams has introduced legislation that would establish the Right to Breast-feed Act. If enacted as written, Senate Bill 34 would protect the right of a mother to nurse her child in public, prohibit a unit of local government from adopting an ordinance prohibiting breastfeeding in public, and provide that breastfeeding may not be considered a nuisance, indecent exposure, sexual conduct or obscenity.

Pennsylvania mothers who want to do more to support breastfeeding can contact the Pennsylvania Breastfeeding Coalition or the very active group Birth Without Boundaries. Birth Without Boundaries has established “a legislative alert e-list — for anyone interested in working together specifically on issues relating to breastfeeding including the legal protection of mothers’ and childrens’ rights to breastfeed wherever and whenever they want to, cases of breastfeeding discrimination in employment, child care and other contexts, and increasing breastfeeding friendly health care practices.” To join the e-list, click here.